The Tampa Bay Rays have the hottest name at the MLB Winter Meetings in David Price and the team likely will trade him at some point and if they choose to do so, they will have plenty of teams interested, including in the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks.
Price has been a name that has been mentioned in trade rumors all offseason and it stems from the fact that he will be getting a raise in arbitration and as he nears free agency, the Rays know they can't afford to keep him. The team has made a habit of trading away their top starters for young talent and after dealing away James Shields for Wil Myers last season with the Royals, and now they could do it again with Price. Hardball Talk reports that the Dodgers could be interested in acquiring Price after losing Ricky Nolasco in free agency and the Mariners are another team that has been heavily interested in a deal.
Price is a top quality pitcher and he is being targeted because he has a team friendly contract for the next two seasons before being a free agent and as a former Cy Young winner, he is a player that doesn't get on the market too often at his age. The Mariners made a deal for Robinson Cano that is insane, but it means they likely aren't done making moves and they have the young talent to pull off a deal.
The Mariners are motivated to try and win now after signing Cano and with players like Nick Franklin, Dustin Ackley and Taijuan Walker on their team, they could move those players to get someone like Price or Matt Kemp from the Dodgers. The Rays reportedly would want Walker in any deal for Price and that could be a huge deal for both teams, as Walker is considered one of the best prospects in baseball. The Mariners are going to try and get another bat and a pitcher and they have two of the best players in baseball now with Felix Hernandez and having Hernandez, Hisashi Iwakuma and Price would be a stellar rotation at the top.
The Mariners don't want to give up Walker and that might be the only thing stopping a deal now. The Diamondbacks have been mentioned in trades for Jeff Samardzija and the Rangers have been in the mix for Price as well and those two teams could also pull of a deal. A trade appears to be likely at the winter meetings and it will be interesting to see who gives up what to get Price. The star is under contract for two more seasons and that makes him very valuable and someone like the Rangers has the prospects to make a deal along with the M's.
